Races: The Half-Orc

Half-Orcs

Half-orcs have existed in the world since before the dawn of recorded history, when orcs and humans first came into contact. Yet, in all that time, civilization has never made room for them.

Most of the common folk have an aversion to half-orcs based largely on their appearance: anyone who looks that much like an orc, they reason, must be like an orc and should be kept at a distance. Because half-orcs are typically stronger and hardier than their human peers, they can find employment in towns and cities, but their appearance marks them as outsiders. In response to being ostracized, half-orcs either embrace their otherness and take pride in their physical superiority, pull back and try not to draw too much attention to themselves, or give up trying to fit in anywhere and adopt a nomadic lifestyle.

Half-orcs in Faerûn have the racial traits of half-orcs in the Player’s Handbook. They speak both Common and Orc. The rare written examples of the Orc language use the Dethek alphabet.

The word “half” is a mark of derision among orcs. Some half-orcs raised among orcs react to this stigma by being more brutal than others of their tribe, which can put them in roles of leadership, but outsider half-orcs aren’t welcomed into orc society because they aren’t of pure orc blood. And they aren’t accepted into other societies because of their orc heritage.
Any half-orc who has lived among or near orcs has scars, whether they are marks of humiliation or of pride, recounting their past exploits and injuries.  

Half-Orcs also become targets of discrimination, or outright attacks, from those who feel threatened by them. This prejudice against the race makes half-orcs slow to trust even those who show them courtesy — because they all have stories of when they were tricked by such behavior.  People watch themselves around an unfamiliar half-orc. Shopkeepers might surreptitiously hide valuable or fragile goods when a half-orc comes in, and people slowly clear out of a tavern, assuming a fight will break out soon.  Their orc blood — the Mark of Gruumsh — makes them quick to anger and inclined to lash out at those who treat them unfairly.  Rage doesn’t just quicken their pulse, it makes their bodies burn. An insult stings like acid, and sadness saps their strength. 

Half-orcs come off as coarse, blunt, or rude in dealings with other races. With the directness of an orc, they speak their minds with no apparent concern for how their opinions are received. No matter where they live, half-orcs usually find themselves defined by others in terms of their usefulness as heavy laborers and soldiers. It is the rare and fortunate few who are judged by their character and their deeds rather than their ancestry.   Simple bodily pleasures—feasting, drinking, wrestling, drumming, and wild dancing—fill their hearts with joy.  The most accomplished half-orcs are those with enough self-control to get by in a civilized land.

Half-Orc Homelands

In lands far from the Sword Coast, such as Thesk and Chessenta, there are large communities of half-orcs, where generations of them have lived as a people in their own right. Yet there are few such places in the North. A small community was growing near the Kingdom of Many Arrows, but the recent war with the orcs of that realm caused this burgeoning population to disperse.

Today a few half-orc communities reside in or on the outskirts of any stable community. Ironically, it is among the largest and most civilized of these places that half-orcs are likely to find acceptance — in the great cities (like Neverwinter or Waterdeep) where people are often more cosmopolitan in their outlook.  In some half-orc communities having human ancestry was no blemish against a warrior—provided the half-orc was every bit as strong as an orc.

In Waterdeep, for instance, half-orcs make up a small percentage of the population, yet even at that they still number in the hundreds. Half-orcs who call Waterdeep home appreciate the acceptance, or at least tolerance, they receive in the city, whether they were born there or arrived from elsewhere on the continent of Faerûn.

Half-Orc Deities

The terrifying deity Gruumsh, the creator of the orcs, discovered all the territories of the world had been claimed by other races.  Angered he swore the orcs would avenge themselves by taking what they wanted by force.   Some half-orcs hear the
whispers of Gruumsh in their dreams, calling them to unleash the rage that simmers within them.  Half-orcs are not evil by nature, but evil does lurk within them, whether they em brace it or rebel against it.

As befits their dual nature, many half-orcs revere deities from both the human and the orc pantheons. Alone or among themselves, half-orcs offer prayers to orc deities, particularly Ilneval, who is thought of as a patron of half-orcs and other orc crossbreeds.

Faerûnian Gods

Half-orcs trying to fit in with human society often adopt a human deity out of expediency (though rarely just for the sake of appearances). They favor Faerûnian deities of war and trickery, such as Bane, Mask, and Tempus.

Horde Leader

The patron deity of half-orcs is the war god Ilneval. He has the title of War Master in the pantheon, revered by those who believe in the wisdom of attacking with overwhelming numbers.